Reflection of Fate
by metalgearsonic
Summary: After the death of one evil, it isn't long before a new danger surfaces...but what form does it really take?
1. Prologue

**Reflection of Fate**

Author's Notes: I haven't written anything like this for a while, so I hope this doesn't disappoint those who read. Certain characters who should be known within this category of fic (Eg. Tails, Scourge etc.) are property of SEGA and/or Archie Comics. Those who you do not know or have heard of are property of me. Due to content throughout this fic is rated M for language and violence. Enjoy! (hopefully!)

**Prologue: End of the beginning**

"So long, Scumbag...maybe you can melt that ice cold heart of yours where you're going..."

Tasia watched unblinking as the plain wooden casket was lowered into the ground. The light breeze ruffling her fur and the soft orange glow as the sun began to set did nothing to sway her gaze on the coffin descending into the dry cracked soil. Then again...Tasia wasn't any ordinary Mobian by most standards...ordinary wasn't her style.

A modest sports car pulled up in the car park not far from the grave's plot. Given her workload still to do, and her lack of pity, or any emotion for the newest resident of Six-Foot-Under Street, as she called it, Tasia called it a day, and left before she was seen or saw anybody else.

Closing the door of her luxury black executive car (she would call it a Mercedes, but then again...no one usually argued with her and got out uninjured), the white-furred lupine headed back to her office, deep in the heart of Metropolis Zone. It wasn't Ice Cap Zone, but it wasn't far away from the places that made her life that little bit better.

Tasia was one of those people you don't forget easily. She never divulged her age to ANYONE (but she was old enough to have seen everything that occured over the years, from Eggman's Scrap Brain Zone right up to his recent Time-Eater scheme). A 5' 9inch wolf with white fur that hid many scars...in previous years she had been an asset to the Army, renowned with sniper rifles too (also earning her unfortunate nickname of Sniper Wolf) and causing more bullet holes than some wars. However, despite this, she was admired by those who served with and under her, and she remained in contact with her dearest friends. In her younger years, her shoulder length hair used to be gelled into a ludicrous mohawk, but time and some maturity had set her and her hairstyle straight...that and her family. Her husband of 30 years, Flame Cynders...a big 6' 6" white tiger with red stripes, he continued to serve as a Secret Service agent, even taking missions from King Maxamillian Acorn himself...and within those 30 years, Tasia managed to have 2 children. Her eldest, Jack, a grey and white wolf with red stripes inherited from his father, had just become a Cadet for the Mobian Army (and despite hating showing her emotions, she was secretly one chuffed wolf). Her youngest, Ember, was a 3 year old tigress, white with gold stripes, who also had an unfortunate tendency to hear and repeat everything her mother said...

"Fuck me...I need a drink..."

Sitting at her desk, she poured a double measure of vodka and added generous amounts of ice. The colder the drink, the better.

Having left the Army, she pursued her other choice in life: Law. Something had always fascinated her about the entire concept, from lowly police cars and handcuffs all the way to the big courthouses and trials. With a little work and dedication, Tasia had managed her goal of becoming a Prosecutor, and now had her own swanky little office on the 14th floor of the Prosecutor's HeadQuarters building. Even though no one was around to hear her words, she spoke nonetheless...

"Son of a bitch...glad he's dead, he cost me a fortune in alcohol, and wrecked my car...goddamn bastard killed thousands...tens of thousands..."

With a rarely seen smile that even Flame wasn't privy to, she lifted her glass in the light of the sunset out of her office windows and toasted to her most recent work.

"Maybe now things will finally return to normal...see you in hell, Scourge"

With a quick down, Tasia emptied her glass and headed home for the night, feeling safe now that the deadliest threat to Mobius since Dr. Eggman was now where he belonged...

**Okay, so thats the Prologue...any comments, crits or praise welcomed!**

**If this does well enough, I might continue onto the main story...:)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Business as unusual**

_BEEPBEEP!_

_BEEPBEEP!_

_BEEP..._

_CLICK!_

"mmmm?"

"Morning Sleepyhead"

"Fuck you"

"Nice to talk to you too, now get your ass up!"

"uuuuurggh...I'm going to kill you for waking me up, you know"

"I know, just like the old days..."

As much as she cherished her sleep, or rather, her not doing anything that counts as work, Tasia still appreciated a call from an old friend. With a heavy sigh, she pulled herself upright and focused on the voice on the other end of her phone.

"What's up, Tit?"

"Dammit, its TITANIUM! If you were still in the Army I'd shoot another hole in your ass!"

"And I'm not, so tough luck..."

"Yea, for now...besides, I still give you some help in your new place when you ask, so be a good little puppy and listen up. Someone stumbled upon a crime scene and it ain't pretty, the sort of scenery you enjoy too much for your own good"

"Dead body and lots of artery juice?"

"Your favourite of course...police called and asked for you specifically, request from Police Chief Onyx himself. He's a good guy, as you know, so don't let him down...if you find anything significant, gimme a call and I'll join you down there, I've got bugger all scheduled today except some rifle training with some new recruits, give me something a little interesting to do, please"

"Yea, yea, I'll try...Heading there now, ok? See you later, maybe..."

With a swift flip of her phone, she cut off before her friend could say his goodbye.

Titanium...another Mobian you'd never forget but for different reasons... he'd been in the Army for a good long while and risen a few ranks too under Tasia's very own supervision. A thorny devil just over 7 feet tall, with blood red and golden yellow scales and horns sharper than razors, there were few who would argue with him just by looking at him, but he was far more tolerant than Tasia. However, not long after Tasia had left the military, one of their last missions was to track down Scourge as one of Mobius' most wanted. With partial success he was located, but only Tasia brought him to justice...Titanium literally fell into a trap, plunging an ungodly distance into solid ground and losing 25 to 30% of his body upon impact. Thanks only to advanced medical science and his own engineering, beaten in skill only by renowned kid-wonder Tails, his lost body parts were replaced and he survived, now living as a cyborg, a type of Mobian that was on the rise in numbers. He had good observational skills and an IQ that matched his mechanical expertise, and so Tasia had often asked him to aid her with some of her investigations.

With something new to focus on, her thoughts of her friend drifted off and were replaced by her new work. Dressed in a dark blue jacket and suit with a silk white cravat, she gathered all she needed and bundled the items into her car. To be fair, she owed Titanium...he had built her nippy little motor after he'd rebuilt himself, a favour she'd asked of him and not expected to actually be carried out...ah what the hell, she'd cut him a break every now and again, that'd be payback enough.

_"I might be overdressed...but who gives a shit? I like this suit" _She thought to herself as her car followed the roads. _"I just hope whatever I'm investigating or examining doesn't decide to get blood all over the fabric...if that dead body spurts, I'll kill it!" _Tasia continued, fully aware of the irony in her last thoughts.

After a 25 minute drive to the outskirts of Gear-Cog City, still within Metropolis Zone, she pulled up into an empty parking space and approached the warehouse complex behind the chrome gates. Nonchalantly, she approached the few lower ranked police officers guarding the gate, who were quick to intercept.

"I'm sorry Ma'am but this area is..."

"Well within my jurisdiction, so back off. Now." With the growl resonating from her 'Now', she pulled her Prosecutor's badge out from her pocket and wielded it like a gun to the officers. With a quiet apology, they let her through and gave directions to the murder scene.

Any normal person, Mobian or not, would describe it as HORRIFIC, but to Tasia it was simply...INTERESTING..."Have the forensics guys finished here yet?"

"Yes Ma'am, Chief Onyx says you're free to poke around, within your limits of course"

"Of course...I inform you now, Lieutenant, I have a legal aide arriving soon...don't worry, you'll know him when you see him, make sure he's let through too"

"Is..."

"Chief Onyx aware? Of course, you fool! I've known his daughter for years, I know full well how he likes to run his precinct!"

"Sorry, Ma'am...won't happen again"

"Very good, Lieutenant...inform me when my aide arrives"

With no other words, Tasia took a few steps back to examine the area as a whole.

There were machines as big as houses inside, but she had no real idea what they did...they might have been for glass production or something like that, but that wasn't her concern right now. What was her concern were the remains of some poor soul lying not too far from her, clearly unable to escape their restraints which appeared to have been partially chewed, clearly as some sort of feeble last resort which failed. The body was seated within a not-so-big machine, tied up at the hands and feet, or rather, what remained of hands and feet. By first glances, it used to be a badger, male, around 20-25 years old...pieces of cloth, presumably from a uniform, seemed to indicate he worked within the same warehouse...if wasn't for 2 things, one would have presumed it was just an accident.

_"1) He was tied up to prevent escape...parts of this machine have blood splatters all over so clearly this is what killed him...looks like various areas were crushed into mulch and he bled to death...but why? Why him?"_

As she continued to search the crime scene, various details were taken into her mind and processed, but that was what Titanium was for.

"Tasia, what have I told you, if you don't get served in a bar, you DON'T have negotiate with them like this..."

"Ha,ha, you sarky bastard...get over here and take a look"

The cyborg thorny devil nodded in agreement and crouched next to her, scanning everything with his glassy, electronic eyes. He may have lost his originals, but his bionic replacements worked wonders, functioning better than biological counterparts.

"Well...fair to say the spiked grid slammed into him from above and turned him into person pizza...but of course, nothing stays so simple"

"I know...go on, tell me what you think"

"Well...one little anomaly, if it is one...the blood pattern. This guy is in an industrial machine, at the bottom of a large vessel effectively, even if he bled dry, it wouldn't fill outright and overflow"

"Your point being...?"

"My point being the 2 perfect circle blood spots on the floor next to, and OUTSIDE, this machine...no chance in hell they belong to this guy, so...how and why are they there?"

"Hmm...fair point, I guess...forensics will probably have an answer for that"

"Yea, they will...and point number 2..."

_"Bet it's the pocket..."_

"His uniform pocket"

_"I love me when I'm right..."_

"Its...clean. Some badger is tied up, killed gruesomely, and yet the pocket is clean enough drink your dinner off of it"

"I'm NOT an alcoholic...I just enjoy it more than I should..."

"So, boys and girls, why is that? Because something has been left inside"

Using his bionic arm, Titanium pulled out a small device from the pocket in question and laid it on the ground where it wouldn't contaminate any possible evidence.

"A tape player? Soundtrack to his own funeral, poor bastard..."

"Maybe...maybe not...play it back, maybe it'll have something useful"

With a click of the rewind button, Tasia did as told and pressed play expectantly. The sound of quiet crackling entered her ears before the tape's contents played out...

**"Good evening Mist...You aren't here to work another late shift...instead you are here to work for your life. You failed to mention that with each night passed under your guard, the contents of the building's safe continue to decrease...a real man would own up to his thieving but you have stayed silent...now you can choose whether you are petty...or a man. You have 1 minute to break free from your confines using only the glass cutting blades opposite, or else the machine cycle completes and you are reduced to a mess, similar to the mess you caused the company's finances. Take caution though, one false move, or the blades will cut more than just your bindings..."**

"...what the fuck?"

"I know...this is more fucked up than you, Tasia"

Behind them, one of the forensic officers approached.

"Pardon me, but having examined the crime scene, I can confirm you that that tape was correct. There was a timer placed on the ceiling set for 60 seconds. The victim got half way through the restraints, but slipped and impaled himself through the shoulder...I believe the pain caused him to panic and try to chew through the rest, forgetting about the time limit"

"Okay, thank you officer...now I really don't know what's scarier...the fact that the voice-scrambler our killer used has been made to sound like Scourge...or the fact that this crime scene is very familiar and very similar to the sorts of killings that same arsehole used to enjoy..."

"Yea...I know...but he's dead Tasia...he's dead...you killed him yourself, there's not a chance in hell it's him"

Tasia had nothing more to add...the idea that perhaps a copycat killer was now on the loose, and copying quite possibly the deadliest Mobian to have lived actually gave her that rare feeling: Fear.

"You go talk to forensics and the rest...I'll need to make notes, if this is a copycat, I've got old case files I can reference"

Titanium nodded solemnly and left the wolf to her solo investigating. They both knew that this would not be the last crime scene they would examine together...

**End of Chapter 1! Again, Crits, comments or anything good welcomed! :)**


End file.
